Adjustable drum support for a laundry dryer



g- 1, 1967 F. F. MUELLER ETAL 3,333,347

ADJUSTABLE DRUM SUPPORT FOR A LAUNDRY DRYER Filed Sept. 7, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 1967 F. F. MUELLER ETAL 3,333,347

ADJUSTABLE DRUM SUPPORT FOR A LAUNDRY DRYER Filed Sept. 7, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 142 11 a0 f I .3. f I 104105 42 105 T '1 1H g- 1967 F. F. MUELLER ETAL 3,333,347

ADJUSTABLE DRUM SUPPORT FOR A LAUNDRY DRYER Filed Sept. 7, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 United States Patent 3,333,347 ADJUSTABLE DRUM SUPPORT FOR A LAUNDRY DRYER Floyd F. Mueller, Two Rivers, and Michael Turko, Manitowoc, Wis., assignors to Hamilton Manufacturing Company, Two Rivers, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsln Filed Sept. 7, 1965, Ser. No. 485,287 19 Claims. (Cl. 34-139) This invention relates to laundry dryers, and more particularly to an adjustable support for the rotatable drum of a laundry dryer.

During assembly, and oftentimes during servicing operations in the field, it is necessary to adjust the drum of a laundry dryer to align the opening in the front wall of a drum with the access opening in the front wall of the dryer cabinet. While such a procedure may not be diflicult when the dryer is being assembled, difiiculty may be expen'enced in the field, particularly if special tools are required.

Accordingly, it is a general object of the invention to provide a novel adjustable support for the rotatable drtun of a laundry dryer, which facilitates accurate alignment of the opening in the drum with the access opening in the dryer cabinet.

Another object is to provide a novel adjustable drum support of the foregoing character which permits independent vertical and horizontal adjustment of the position of the drum opening with respect to the access opening of the dryer cabinet.

A further object is to provide a novel adjustable drum support for adjusting theposition of a dryer drum in a cabinet, which may be adjusted from the exterior of the cabinet.

Still another object is to provide a novel adjustable drum support for the rotatable drum of a laundry dryer, which is simple in construction, does not require special tools, and which is inexpensive to manufacture.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description and accompanying sheets of drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, with a portion thereof broken away to show internal parts, of a laundry dryer incorporating an adjustable drum support embodying the features of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken generally on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line 33 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary enlarged horizontal sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

Briefly described, a laundry dryer embodying the invention comprises an outer cabinet having an access opening in the front wall, and a drum rotatably mounted within the cabinet and having an opening in its front wall adapted to be aligned with the opening of the cabinet. The rotatable mounting of the drum is such that the drum may be swung in a vertical plane to vertically align the drum opening with the cabinet opening, and in a horizontal plane to horizontally align the drum opening with the cabinet opening. Adjustment for accomplishing such swinging movement may be accomplished at the rear of the cabinet in a simple manner.

In FIG. 1, a laundry dryer embodying the features of the invention, is illustrated. The dryer 10, in the present instance, comprises a generally rectilinear cabinet 11 having front, rear, top, bottom, and side walls, respectively indicated at 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17, inclusive. Preferably, the top wall 14 is formed by a removable cover having a control panel 18, and the front wall 12 is provided with an access opening 22 and a door 23 for closing the opening 22 when laundry is beingdried.

Within the cabinet 11 is a cylindrical drum 30 (FIGS. 1 and 2) having front and rear end walls 32 and 33, respectively, and a peripheral wall 34. The front wall 32 is provided with an opening 36 adapted to register with the cabinet access opening 22, and mounting structure in the form of a spider having a hub 37 and radially extending, circumferentially spaced arms 38 is secured to the rear wall 33 of the drum.

The drum is adapted to be rotated and in the present instance, rotation is shown as being achieved by a drive belt 42 which extends around the peripheral wall 34 and a drive pulley 43 secured to one end of a shaft 44 driven by a motor 46. Tension in the belt 42 is maintained by a belt tightening mechanism 50.

For purposes of illustration, the motor 46 is shown as driving an impeller 52 (FIG. 2) which serves to draw moisture-laden air from the interior of the drum 30 and to discharge such air through a conduit 53 which extends through the rear wall 13 of the dryer cabinet. To this end, the impeller 52 isenclosed in a housing 54 which communicates through a duct 56 with an opening in the lower end of a plenum chamber 57 mounted on the inside of the front wall 12 of the cabinet. The upper end of the plenum chamber 57 underlies a flattened bottom wall 58 of the access opening 22 and a plurality of openings (not shown) are provided in the inner side, indicated at 62, of the upper end of the plenum chamber through which moistureladen air from the drum enters the chamber. An annular felt seal having a radially outwardly and forwardly inclined lip 63 engages the periphery of the opening 36 in the drum, to prevent air leakage between the drum opening 36 and cabinet opening 22.

For supplying heated air to the interior of the drum, the rear wall 33 thereof is provided with a plurality of perforations through which heated air passes into the drum from a space 64 formed between. the rear wall 33 and a circular bulkhead 66 (FIGS. 2, 3 and 4) spaced from the rear wall 33. An annular felt seal 65 is secured around the peripheral wall 34 of the drumand spans the space between the rear wall 33 of the drum and a flange 67 formed on the bulkhead 66.

Heated air enters the space 64 through an opening 68 in the bulkhead, the latter registering with another opening 69 in the upper end of an elongated, generally vertically extending hot air duct 72 on the rear side of the bulkhead 66. Heated air from a burner assembly (not shown) enters the lower end of the duct 72 through an opening 73 in the lower end of the duct.

As heretofore mentioned, the drum. 30 is rotatable within the cabinet 11 when driven by the belt 42. To this end, the dryer 10 includes a support providing a rotatable mounting for the drum 30. Such support, preferably comprises an upright 82 in the form of a vertically extending channel having spaced flanges 83 and 84, and a connecting web 86 (FIGS. 2 and 3). The upright 82 extends upwardly between the rear walls 33 and 13 of the drum and cabinet 11, respectively, with the flanges 83 and 84 extending :rearwardly from the web 86, and the bulkhead 66 is mounted on the front face of the Web 86. The lower end 87 of the upright 82 is mounted on the bottom wall 15 of the cabinet 11. To this end, the flanges 83 and 84 of the upright, at the lower end 87, are provided with lateral extensions 88 which extend horizontally outwardly from the upright. The extensions 88 rest on and are secured to the bottom wall 15 of the cabinet, which is preferably of sheet metal. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the bottom wall 15 may be provided with a pair of upraised bosses 92 upon which the lateral extensions 88 may be mounted.

The upright 82 includes a channel-shaped bearing support bracket 96 having spaced flanges 97 and a connecting web 93, with the flanges extending forwardly from the web. The spacing of the flanges 97 is somewhat greater than the spacing of the flanges 83 and 84 of the upright 82 so that the former may overlap and embrace the latter as shown in FIG. 4 with the web 98 of the bracket 96 spaced from the web 86 on the upright 32. Preferably, the flanges 97 of the bracket 96 are welded to the flanges 83 and 84 of the upright 82.

Bearing means, indicated generally at 99, is carried by the web 06 of the support channel 82 and web 98 of the bracket 96, such bearing means coacting with the aforementioned mounting structure secured to the rear wall 33 of the drum for supporting the latter. The bearing means 99 thus includes an elongated sleeve 100 extending through openings in and secured to the webs 86 and 98 of the upright 82 and bracket 96, respectively. As will be apparent from FIGS. 2 and 4, the sleeve 100 is supported intermediate its ends by the web 06 and adjacent its outer or rearward end by the web 98. The diameter of the opening in the bracket 96 is preferably somewhat larger than the outside diameter of the sleeve 100 to permit relative movement therebetween, and a bearing support plate 101 has an opening therein of substantially the same diameter as the outside diameter of the sleeve 100, through which the projecting end of the sleeve extends. The plate 101 is secured as by welding, indicated at 102, to the outer side of the web 98 of the bracket 96. Thus, the axis of the bearing sleeve and hence the axis of the drum may be fixed in a predetermined angular relationship to the upright 82. The sleeve 100 is adapted to rotatably journal a support shaft 103 (FIGS. 2 and 3) having its inner end rigidly secured in the hub 37 of the drum mounting structure.

As heretofore mentioned, the impeller 52 serves to induce a flow of moisture-laden air from the interior of the drum 30 into the plenum chamber 57 for discharge from the dryer through exhaust conduit 53. Such flow thus depends upon the maintenance of the rotating seal between the drum opening 36 and cabinet opening 22 provided by the lip 63 of the felt seal, the effectiveness of the seal in turn depending to a great extent upon the alignment of the openings 22 and 36.

To this end, the dryer 10 includes adjusting means for swinging the front end of the drum in such a manner as to align the drum opening 36 with the cabinet opening 22. Such adjustment, in the present instance, is effected by swinging the front end of the drum in vertical and horizontal planes. The swinging movement of the drum in a vertical plane may be effected by flexure of the upright 82 forwardly or rearwardly between its point of attachment to the bottom wall of the cabinet and the point of attachment of the bearing means 99 to the upright, or by flexure of the bottom wall 15 of the cabinet, or by yielding of the lateral extensions 88 at the lower end of the upright. The swinging movement of the drum in a horizontal plane may be effected by twisting movement of the upright 82. All such swinging movements are referred to herein broadly as bending of the upright 82, and the term bending as used herein and in the claims is intended to have suflicient breadth to cover any of the foregoing specific forms of movement.

For effecting adjustment of the position of the drum opening 36 in a vertical plane, the aforementioned adjusting means includes means coacting with the rear wall 13 of the cabinet and the upright 82 for tilting the latter forwardly and rearwardly about the bottom wall 15. With such construction, it will be apparent that forward or rearward movement of the upright 82 will raise or lower the position of the drum opening 36 with respect to the cabinet opening 22. To this end, the upright 82 preferably extends above the bearing support bracket 96 such that its upper end, indicated at 104, terminates adjacent the top wall 14 of the cabinet 11. The forward and rearward movement is accomplished by moving the upper end 104 of the upright by means which, in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, is shown as comprising a screw 105 connecting the rear wall 13 of the cabinet and the upper end 104 of the upright 82.

For this purpose, a bracket 106 may be secured to the upper end 104 of the upright 82 for receiving the screw 105. The bracket 106, in the present instance, is of a channel shape and includes a web 107 and a pair of flanges 108 extending forwardly from the web 107 and embracing and secured to the flanges 83 and 84 of the upright 82, as by welding. The screw 105 has a head 111 (FIG. 2) bearing against a reinforcing channel 112 secured to the outer side of the rear wall 13 of the cabinet immediately below the top wall 14. The inner end of the screw 105 has a threaded connection with the web 107 of the bracket 106 preferably by a nut 113 welded or otherwise secured to the inner face of the web 107. The head 111 of the screw 105 is maintained in engagement with the outer surface of the reinforcing channel 112 prefera ly by a stop such as a nut 114 threaded on the screw 105 on the inner side of the rear wall 13.

For effecting adjustment of the position of the drum opening 36 in a horizontal plane, the aforementioned adjusting means includes means coacting with the rear wall 13 of the cabinet and the upright 82 for bending the latter by twisting movement. To this end, a horizontally extending arm (FIGS. 3 and 4) is secured at one end to the channel 82 in substantial horizontal alignment with the bearing means 99. The arm 120 is preferably of a channel shape having spaced flanges 121 and a connecting web 122, the flanges 121 at the inner or right end of the arm 120, as viewed in FIG. 3, being provided with vertical extensions 123 and the web 122 being provided with a horizontal extension 124, the extensions 123 and 124 lying flat against and being secured, as by welding, to the flange 97 of the bracket 96.

A trapezoidal'ly-shaped, angularly extending gusset plate 126 (FIGS. 3 and 4) having a strengthening rib 127, may be secured to the upper flange 121 of the arm 120 and the adjacent flange 97 of the bracket 96 to reinforce the connection of the arm 120 with the bracket 96.

With the foregoing construction, it will be apparent that forward and rearward movement of the outer end, indicated at 130, of the arm 120 will twist the upright 82, thereby turning the bearing support bracket 96 and hearing means 99 to swing the front end of the drum in a horizontal plane. The drum opening 36 is thereby adusted in a horizontal plane with respect to the cabinet opening 22. Since a small amount of angular displacement of the bearing means 99 will result in a large amount of horizontal movement of the front end of the drum, the upright 82 need only be twisted a slight amount. Such slight twisting is readily accommodated by the upright 82 due to its length. Moreover, since the arm 120 is in horizontal alignment with the bearing sleeve 100 and the upper end of the upright 82 is confined by the adjusting screw 105, forward or rearward movement of the outer end 130 of the arm 120 effects horizontal adjustment of the drum opening 36 without altering its vertical adjustment.

Forward and rearward movement of the outer end 130 of the arm 120 may be accomplished by means which, in FIGS. 3 and 4, is shown as comprising a screw 131 connecting the rear wall 13 of the cabinet with the outer end 130 of the arm 120. In the present instance, the screw 131 has a head 132 bearing against the rear wall 13 of the cabinet, and the screw 131 may be adjustably secured to the arm 120 as by a nut 133 spot welded or otherwise secured to the web 122 of the arm 120 for receiving the screw 131. The outer end 130 of the arm 120 may be provided with a forwardly extending flange 134 connected to the periphery of the bulkhead 66 to assure movement of the bulkhead 66 with the arm 120 and rear wall 33 of the drum. In addition, a reinforcing angle plate 135 (FIGS. 3 and 4) may be welded or otherwise secured at the intersection of the rear wall and side wall 16 of the cabinet 11, adjacent the end 130 of the arm 120, to prevent flexure of the rear wall 13 by the screw 131. The head 132 of the screw 131 is maintained in engagement with the rear wall 13 of the cabinet 11 preferably by a stop such as a nut 136 threaded on the screw 131 on the inner side of the reinforcing angle plate 135.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the drum support construction herein described makes possible accurate and rapid adjustment of the position of the drum opening 36 with respect to the cabinet access opening 22, so that the seal 63 between these openings will be effective, without the necessity of special tools. In addition, the support structure is simple and rugged in construction, and reliable in operation.

We claim:

1. A laundry dryer comprising a cabinet having front, rear and bottom walls, a generally cylindrical drum located within said cabinet with its axis substantially horizontal, said drum having front and rear walls, the front walls of said cabinet and said drum having openings therein, an upright mounted at its lower end on the bottom wall of said cabinet and extending upwardly between the rear walls of said drum and said cabinet, said upright rotatably supporting said drum, and means coacting with the rear wall of said cabinet and said upright for bending said upright relative to the bottom wall of said cabinet to move the front wall of the drum and bring the opening therein into alignment with the said opening in the front wall of said cabinet.

2. The combination of claim 1, in which the bottom wall of said cabinet is of sheet metal and has at least one upraised boss, and the lower end of said upright is rigidly secured to said boss.

3. The combination of claim 1, in which said upright comprises a channel having spaced flanges and a connecting web, and said flanges having lateral extensions at the lower end of said channel extending horizontally and engaging said bottom wall.

4. In a laundry dryer including a cabinet having front, rear and bottom walls, and a rotatable drum within said cabinet and having front and rear end walls, the front walls of said cabinet and said drum having openings therein, and said rear wall of said drum having mounting structure secured thereto, an adjustable support for said drum for aligning the openings in said drum and said cabinet and comprising an upright disposed adjacent the rear wall of said cabinet and having its lower end mounted on the bottom wall thereof, bearing means for said mounting structure carried by said upright for supporting said drum for rotation about a substantially horizontal axis, and adjusting means coacting with the rear wall of said cabinet and said upright for bending the latter to shift said bearing means and bring the opening in the front wall of said drum into alignment with the opening in the front wall of said cabinet.

5. The combination of claim 4, in which said upright comprises a channel having spaced flanges and a connecting web located adjacent the rear wall of said drum, and said bearing means is carried on the web of said channel intermediate the length thereof.

6. The combination of claim 5, in which a channelshaped bearing support bracket having spaced flanges and a connecting web is secured to said upright channel, said bearing means also being carried in said web of said bracket, said bracket having its web spaced from the web of said upright channel and its flanges secured to the flanges of said upright channel.

7. The combination of claim 6, in which said mounting structure includes a shaft, and said bearing means includes an elongated sleeve rotatably supporting said shaft, said sleeve extending through and being secured to the connecting webs of said upright channel and said bearing support bracket.

8. The combination of claim 7, in which said sleeve is supported intermediate its ends by the web of said upright channel and adjacent its outer end by the Web of said support bracket.

9. The combination of claim 5, in which a circular bulkhead is secured to the web of said upright channel, and said sleeve extends through said bulkhead.

10. A laundry dryer, comprising a cabinet having front, rear and bottom walls, a generally cylindrical drum located within said cabinet with its axis substantially horizontal, said drum having front and rear walls, the front walls of said cabinet and said drum having openings therein, an upright mounted at its lower end on the bottom wall of said cabinet and extending upwardly between the rear walls of said drum and said cabinet, said upright rotatably supporting said drum, and means coacting with the rear wall of said cabinet and said upright for tilting said upright forwardly and rearwardly about the bottom wall of said cabinet to move the front wall of the drum vertically and bring the opening in the front wall 'of said drum into alignment with the opening in the front wall of said cabinet.

11. In a laundry dryer including a cabinet having front, rear and bottom walls, and a rotatable drum within said cabinet and having front and rear end walls, the front walls of said cabinet and said drum having openings therein and said rear wall of said drum having mounting structure secured thereto, an adjustable support for said drum for aligning the openings in said drum and. said cabinet and comprising an upright disposed adjacent the rear wall of said cabinet and having its lower end mounted on the bottom Wall thereof, bearing means for said mounting structure carried by said upright for supporting said drum for rotation about a substantially horizontal axis, and adjusting means coacting with the rear wall of said cabinet and said upright for tilting the latter forwardly and rearwardly about its lower end to move the front wall of the drum vertically and bring the opening in the front wall of the drum into alignment with the opening in the front wall of said cabinet.

12. The combination of claim 11, in which said adjusting means comprises a screw extending through the rear wall of said cabinet and threaded into said upright.

13. The combination of claim 12, in which said screw is threaded into the upper end of said upright and said bearing means is carried intermediate the length of said upright.

14. The combination of claim 13, in which said upright comprises a vertically extending channel having spaced flanges and a connecting web with said. web located adjacent the rear wall of said drum, said adjusting means comprises a channel-shaped adjusting bracket having spaced flanges and a connecting web spaced from the web of said upright channel, the flanges of said bracket being secured to the flanges of said upright channel, and said screw being threaded into the web of said adjusting bracket.

15. A laundry dryer, comprising a cabinet having front, rear and bottom walls, a generally cylindrical drum located within said cabinet with its axis substantially horizontal, said drum having front and rear walls, the front walls "of said cabinet and said drum having openings therein, an upright mounted at its lower end on the bottom wall of said cabinet and extending upwardly between the rear walls of said drum and said cabinet, said upright rotatably supporting said drum, and means coacting with the rear wall of said cabinet and said upright for twisting said upright to swing the front wall 'of said drum horizontally and bring the opening in the front wall of said drum into alignment with the opening in the front wall of said cabinet.

16. In a laundry dryer including a cabinet having front, rear and bottom walls, and a rotatable drum within said cabinet and having front and rear end walls, the front walls of said cabinet and said drum having openings therein and said rear wall of said drum having mounting structure secured thereto, an adjustable support for aligning the openings in said drum and cabinet and comprising an upright disposed adjacent the rear wall of said cabinet and having its lower end mounted on the bottom wall thereof, said upright having an arm extending horizontally therefrom, bearing means for said mounting structure carried by said upright for supporting said drum for rotation about a substantially horizontal axis, and adjusting means coacting with the rear wall of said cabinet and said arm for swinging the latter forwardly and rear- Wardly to bend at least a portion of said upright and displace said bearing means in a horizontal plane to swing the front wall of said drum horizontally and bring the opening in the front Wall of said drum into alignrnent with the opening in the front wall of said cabinet.

17. The combination of claim 16, in which said adjusting means comprises a screw extending through the rear wall of said cabinet and threaded into said arm.

18. The adjustable support of claim 17, in which said arm is in substantial horizontal alignment with said bear- References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,706,232 3/1929 Hurxthal 30859 2,506,516 5/1950 Moore 30822 2,541,166 2/1951 Leef 68-140 2,589,619 3/1952 Leef 34139 X 2,688,471 9/1954 Robinson et al 34--133 X FREDERICK L. MATTESON, JR., Primary Examiner.

C. R. REMKE, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A LAUNDRY DRYER COMPRISING A CABINET HAVING FRONT, REAR AND BOTTOM WALLS, A GENERALLY CYLINDRICAL DRUM LOCATED WITHIN SAID CABINET WITH ITS AXIS SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL, SAID DRUM HAVING FRONT AND REAR WALLS, THE FRONT WALLS OF SAID CABINET AND SAID DRUM HAVING OPENINGS THEREIN, AN UPRIGHT MOUNTED AT ITS LOWER END ON THE BOTTOM WALL OF SAID CABINET AND EXTENDING UPWARDLY BETWEEN THE REAR WALLS OF SAID DRUM AND SAID CABINET, SAID UPRIGHT ROTATABLY SUPPORTING SAID DRUM, AND MEANS COACTING WITH THE REAR WALL OF SAID CABINET AND SAID UPRIGHT FOR BENDING SAID UPRIGHT RELATIVE TO THE BOTTOM WALL OF SAID CABINET TO MOVE THE FRONT WALL OF THE DRUM AND BRING THE OPENING THEREIN INTO ALIGNEMT WITH THE SAID OPENING IN THE FRONT WALL OF SAID CABINET. 